Conventionally, the optical property of the liquid crystal are changed by the orientation of the molecule of the liquid crystal. By utilizing this property, therefore, the liquid crystal has been used in an information display device such as a liquid crystal display.
When an electric field or a magnetic field is applied to change the direction of orientation of the molecule of the liquid crystal, moreover, the viscosity of the liquid crystal itself is changed, that is, the liquid crystal also has the property of an electro-rhological fluid. For this reason, there has been developed a bearing, a damper and the like which utilize the property of the electro-rhological fluid.
On the other hand, it has been known that the flow of the liquid crystal is generated when the electric field or the magnetic field is applied to the liquid crystal. Techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 have been disclosed as a technology which industrially utilizes the flow of a liquid crystal. Each of these techniques has been developed based on a theory that a convection is generated around a parallel axis with a parallel plate when a perpendicular electric field or magnetic field to the parallel plate is applied to a liquid crystal provided between a pair of parallel plates. In other words, the flow of the liquid crystal has been developed on the premise that the molecule of the liquid crystal is also moved in a perpendicular direction to the parallel plate, that is, a parallel direction with the direction of the electric field or magnetic field.
Patent Document 1
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-260100
Patent Document 2
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-13895
Patent Document 3
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-260100
Thus, the inventors of the present invention made studies vigorously and repetitively. As a result, it has been found that the flow of a liquid crystal is caused by a speed gradient generated through the rotation of the molecule of the liquid crystal, and the molecule of the liquid crystal is moved in a perpendicular direction to the direction of an electric field or a magnetic field but is not moved in the direction of the electric field or the magnetic field when the flow of the liquid crystal is generated. Based on this principle, a mechanism for industrially utilizing the flow of the liquid crystal has been invented.
In consideration of the circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an object rotating mechanism capable of industrially utilizing the flow of a liquid crystal.